The 10 Sleekest Hair Looks From London Fashion Week SS17

We turn to London Fashion Week for the latest hair inspiration. Featuring the spring/summer 2017 collections meant hair was left appearing quite natural, tresses needed to have a healthy shine and have some movement on the runway.

This season the fringe dominated the catwalk.The hair fell either right below or right above the models’ eyebrows and the weight was on point – it wasn’t too whispy or too thick – there were no stringy, greasy fringes here, it was pure gloss. To get the look, we offer fringe straightening (check it out here.)

See the sleekest hairstyles seen on London Fashion Week runways, we have rounded up everything from Burberry to J.W, Anderson.

J.W. Anderson.

BURBERRY

It was all about the centre part. Hair was either left straight, had a very natural wave to it, or was slicked back into a ponytail. Overall the hair didn’t detract from the clothes, it was effortless and that’s why its a winner.

J.W. ANDERSON

J.W. Anderson mastered the fringe in his intimate show. For the girls who didn’t have the crowning cut, the hair was parted to the side and it fell slightly to the side to mock side bangs.

FAUSTINE STEINMETZ

The model’s hair cascaded over her shoulder as she laid down posing for Faustine Steinmetz’s presentation. The shiny hair was about as light reflecting as the Swarovski crystals adorning the garments.

MARY KATRANTZOU

Mary Katrantzou’s glossy locks had movement on her runway. The centre part formed a curtain of

hair around the models face, and her locks were blown backwards from the power of her strut.

EMILIA WICKSTEAD

Dorothy skipping down the yellow brick road with her embarrassing child-like pigtails had nothing on the girls on Emilia Wickstead’s yellow catwalk. Their lightweight effortlessly wavy hair freely bounced behind them as they walked.

ROKSANDA

The hair was secured back behind the models ears, drawing attention to the big summer shades veiling their eyes. Parted to the side, you could see the hair was carefully brushed into its smooth streamlined shape.

BELSTAFF

The lovely Liv Tyler was at Belstaff’s London Fashion Week presentations to present the new Belstaff x Liv Tyler capsule collection. All the girls modelling, including Liv Tyler, donned glamorous silky waves.

MULBERRY

Despite the number of times we saw a fringe and the eu natural tresses this season, Mulberry managed to make the look appear fresh. Even with a fringe the hair tucked was tucked behind just one of the girls ears, making here appear quite youthful. The key here was the barely there makeup. Wearing heavier makeup with a fringe can quickly turn your from school girl to vixen.

PETER PILOTTO

The models’ hair hung straight down their backs to revealing their collar bones in the off-the-shoulder blouses. The naturally shiny, wavy hair looked, well… natural, which isn’t always so easy to accomplish.

ANTONIO BERARDI
Goldie Locks would be jealous of the brilliant blonde manes on Antonio Berardi’s spring runway – you can’t help but imagine the sun catching the girls’ glossy hair!

I left Molton Brown Hairdressing for a new challenge in 1998 before Yuko System the pioneers of chemical straightening first opened their Academy outside Japan in Mayfair, London. It was a big decision, but Yuko seemed to be offering something new and something very exciting which interested me greatly.

Yuko Yamashita, founder of Yuko system permanent hair straightening, originates from Japan. She learnt hairdressing /she call it “beauty specialist”/ in Japan, and opened her salon. She had loads of clients with frizzy hair /yes you be surprised loads of Japanese have curly, or frizzy hair/, and decided to help them. “If you want to know why I have focused all my energy on permanent hair straightening, it is because, since becoming a beauty specialist, I have met many women who suffer from unruly hair. Almost all people have more or less unruly hair, and these can become a serious source of worry for women.”

In the early 90’s Yuko started developing her first perm solution, to chemically straighten hair, which took her 2 years to have the first sets. She studied and researched a lot; “I first noticed that I needed to understand the bio-rhythm of hair in order to maintain its beauty. So I started studying the various proteins that constitute hair and their behavior. Just as each person has her own constitution, each person has her own hair quality, and a beauty specialist can understand a customer’s hair and body condition from experience. I can tell what kind of habits my customer’s hair has and what kind of physical constitution my customer has just by touching her hair and head, even with my eyes closed. I can do this because of my tremendous amount of interest in hair and because of having stuck to my own beliefs so far.” In 1994 Yuko partnered up with a Japanese company called Phi-ten, who developed and reformulated all Yuko system products, and after permanent hair straightening become a success in Japan, bought it to London and Los Angeles. Yuko was, at that time, still working in Japan; “One junior-high school student, who visited our salon, said she could not live an active life due to her unruly hair. When she saw herhair chemicallystraightened in the mirror, she started crying with joy. One of the staff in my salon became so worried about her unruly hair that she decided to quit high school to become a beauty specialist. This is the reason why I decided to start studying hair-straightening techniques intensively with a hope to help people who suffer from unruly hair.” So the Yuko Straightening System was created, and perfected and before the millennium it was bought to London.

I was one of the lucky technicians who was able to learn and practice before the Yuko academy, and the Yuko salon in Mayfair was opened. Technicians and staff were sent from Japan, and Yuko Yamashita herself came here to train us on permanent hair straightening. Yuko had a very different view of hair, nothing I had seen or learned before, and learning from her was a pleasure. Without that knowledge I would not see or understand hair as I see it today and what I’ve learned from Yuko Yamashita I use it every day with every client.

When we opened the Yuko systems salon, we didn’t have many customers, but a daily mail article made us fully booked. Permanent hair straightening was a big thing everyone talked about. That time chemical hair straightening /the Yuko technique/ was a very timely process, always two people working on one client, and it taken us up to 6 hours from start to finish. I remember I was asked by Yuko to test the system on Afro Caribbean hair, and one of the models took us 10+ hours to complete, of course with a success, and Yuko was extremely happy with the results.

After climbing up and made manager, I left Yuko system salon and academy in the early 2000s to open my own salon, and I was the first to perform the magical permanent straightening technique = the Yuko system outside the Yuko academy, and the first authorised salon in London. Yuko system and the academy has boomed in the coming years and straight hair was very much in fashion. The main problem was that the products were not allowed us to be used on chemically damaged, and high-lighted hair, and the process was very lengthy. With Phi-ten Yuko redeveloped her products, and came out with many new updates, and currently she is working on a damage free perming solution. In 2014 Yuko Mayfair closed, handing over the European rights to Yuhei, (and his wife Reiko Kanda) a Japanese stylist I worked with for a year, and we still in touch. He always updates me on new developments.

Yuko Yamashita, her views and teaching of the importance of hair condition will always be with me through my carrier. Thank you Yuko for developing this wonderful hair straightening system.

I’ve been asked to test Momoko hair straightening and digital perming products. The company recently launched in the UK and are already available in a number of salons. It is always exciting for me to receive new products, especially when the products are available to purchase in the UK or Europe as not many hair texturising products are available in UK shores so I have to source my products from all over the world.

I’ve received nearly 20 different products, from hair conditioning to shampoos, and softening solutions, and must say I was very excited as I’ve already used different products and solutions from the manufacturer of Momoko previously; the Japanese company who makes Momoko has been on the list of my suppliers for a while.

Momoko claims to be a product that can be used on any hair type and can achieve outstanding results.

I met up with Nathan Walker International Technical Director of Trevor Sorbie at a seminar; Walker is currently providing the education on Momoko products. He is very knowledgeable of hair, and it was a pleasure meeting him. I have to say that the product guide and the education provided by Nathan was excellent and gave way more in depth information than anyone else offered in the UK. Very well done, and thank you.

Returning to the salon didn’t take me long to try and to test the product. Have to say in theory all products works pretty much the same, so I really didn’t have to learn anything new, it was just trying and testing to see the results. That’s what product testing is about.

The products are, as it was expected, the highest quality. I already have a few favourites which I use on a daily basis. As you might know I am a very mix and match guy, meaning I prefer not to use one company’s products but test and find the best from each company and I will be using Momoko products on my clients regularly, but not everything on every customer.

If you are a customer who reads this I would like to remind you that giving a Wella colour tube to Josh Wood or to someone else will very much bring you different results, and I still think that what’s most important is not the product but the person whom using it though using the best products available is still helpful.

If you are a hairdresser looking to offer new services, I would recommend trying Momoko and attend the training, as what they offer is excellent. However don’t forget my 50 rule, before offering it to clients, I would recommend you to do at least 50 models. It might sound a lot, but if you compare it to haircutting, learning a perfect Bob would’ve taken you longer then 50 model practices.